


I Don't Particularly Like You Either

by Nyoona



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Anxiety Attacks, Awkward Crush, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Idiots in Love, Mental Health Issues, POV Alternating, Romance, Self-Esteem Issues, anxiety seb, avoidant farmer, scared and hesitant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-06 08:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyoona/pseuds/Nyoona
Summary: Siria had hit a dead end at both her job and personal life, unable to make friends or better pay out of a job she hated. Pappa Jamie's legacy felt more realistic than it ever had before, even after receiving that decorated letter and last will months and more months ago. And then, after one sudden bad day, after one sudden (bad?) decision, Siria was unemployed but also a farm owner. Just like that. She didn't mind the life in the Valley but it was such a small place. What was she to do with the people around there? Especially those that didn't like her?





	1. It's just hunting eggs, right?

“ _Useless!_ ”

George Mullner’s angry voice could be heard by nearly everyone at the town center, which likely meant nearly everyone at Stardew Valley. The angry man eyed Siria up and down with a frown on his face.

“You don’t look like you have any guts in you, city girl. Don’t you ruin ol’ Jim’s farm just because you have some stupid _romance_ ideas about idyllic life on the countryside!” he practically spat the words out as he maneuvered his wheelchair around, on a move that strongly suggested he was done with her.

“Don’t you pay George no mind, dearie,” said Evelyn, who had rushed to Siria’s side faster than the words had sunk into her brain enough to understand what had been said. Kind and friendly Evelyn tried to ameliorate her husband’s harsh words. “He’s been like that for years now. He’s just— he’s just frustrated, is all. Please, don’t think too badly of it,” she entreated while holding and patting Siria’s hand in a comforting gesture.

While Siria was taken aback by this unexpected outburst of anger towards her, it was already the second such reaction today and part of her mind had already fled to safe distance.

She had moved to Stardew Valley just two weeks ago, but it felt much longer. So much had happened in such a short time and she had met so many new people, almost all of the village in fact. Today’s egg festival was the chance to meet the few remaining ones that she hadn’t yet seen. But it wasn’t going well. Definitely not well at all.

Her thoughts turned back to the day’s first new acquaintance, Shane. She didn’t know much about him except that he was Marnie’s nephew, and Marnie was really nice. Shane, as it turned out, wasn’t. She had introduced herself and extended her hand for a shake, but the man had just stared at her like she was out of her mind.

Then he had growled the following nicety, “I don’t care who you are. You leave me the fuck alone and we’ll get on just stellarly,” before crumbling and throwing away a beer can he had been holding and turning on his heels to grab a fresh one. And now here was another one just like Shane.

 _This is all too confusing,_ Siria thought. _I have no idea what I did wrong. Did I even do anything wrong?_

But Evelyn was still there, waiting for her to confirm that everything was okay, so she did.

“No, it’s fine, I understand,” she replied, forcing the thoroughly practiced smile on her face, courtesy of Joja corp. _Boss and customer satisfaction rate of 120%,_ her belligerent mind mocked her but she wrestled the bitter emotion down before it could show on her face and continued, “Don’t worry about it, Evelyn, I’m sure he just needs some time to adjust to a new person. I mean, he knew pappa Jamie for so long and I’m sure it’s a lot to take in, having someone new and unfamiliar just suddenly appear out of nowhere!”

“Thanks dearie,” the old woman sighed in obvious relief and gripped her hand tighter. “You are so understanding and kind. I’m sure George will come around soon.” With that she patted her hand one last time and left to join his grumpy old badger of a husband.

 _That TV fortune teller did say that ill omens were staining this day_ , Siria remembered glumly, as she made her way out of the town square, to somewhere where with less people, less chances to run into anyone. She felt done with the day, no more new people.

It was right that moment when she spotted two familiar figures near the pair of family homes that were built by the river.

_Sam and Abigail!_

Siria’s mood immediately improved upon seeing the two. She had met them both the first time she ventured into town. Abigail was the first since she was Pierre’s daughter who lived at the general store where Siria needed to frequent now. Unlike her parents she was a bundle of frenetic energy. Siria’s first impression had been just a flurry of soft purple curls that had swept her to the back rooms, which turned out to be a whole family apartment.

Abigail had shown her the town and introduced her to Sam, who was every bit as energetic as Abigail, yet in a completely different way. At 21 they were both few years younger than Siria and still in school but in a town this small it didn’t feel like it matter as much as it would have in Zuzu City. The last year of school and first years of employed life had no chance to create such a rift in a town this small, for which she was thankful. Friends weren’t something she hadn’t really thought about when making the decision to move here, but thinking about it now it would have royally sucked to not have any company of people even nearly similar to her in age.

Siria was about to call out to her new friends but the words disappeared when she saw that the group had a third member. Someone she hadn’t met before.

 _Holy Yoba_ , she gasped audibly, stopping on her tracks. It was a lean figured young man with asymmetrical hair so black that its highlights shone almost blue. He was also completely dressed in black, with baggy hoodie and torn jeans, and shoddily tied combat boots that in an environment like this just screamed some kind of edgy rebel. She was thankful that she was still pretty far away from them all and most likely no could see her odd reaction. In fact they hadn’t actually heard her at all and continued to talk like normal so Siria took the opportunity to gather herself.

 _Damn, he’s good looking_ , she thought. The unknown man managed to tick off pretty much all the boxes on a mental checklist that she didn’t even know had existed until now because she just wasn’t that interested in general. It was a bit unsettling, especially when it happened in her current situation, in her current location. Reminding herself that she hadn’t come to Stardew Valley to find a sweetheart she shook her head to clear her wild thoughts. It was just then that Abigail noticed her.

“Siria! You made it! Come here,” she yelled and motioned with her hand, with Sam mimicking her once he noticed her too. Siria forced her legs to obey and to start walking towards her new friends again, feeling the slight vibration of nervousness on the pit of her stomach.

“Hello!” she managed to reply somewhat shakily, trying to gain her composure as she made her way towards the group, trying to look anywhere else except the sudden surprise she had encountered.

But despite all her intentions she couldn’t help it and the curiosity seemed to win, and easily too. As Siria approached she started to make out some more details of the man in black. He had eyebrows that matched the hair, arching over his eyes like raven’s wings. But the rest of his facial features actually seemed almost mismatched with what she had assumed about his looks at first, with length and roundness of a face that was ill-matched with the frame that on closer look was more thin rather than lean. But his nose was sharp and narrow, which gave him a certain air of haughty handsomeness anyway.

And she couldn’t ignore the eyes, of course. Mostly because the man in question was staring at her very obviously but also because they seemed darker than any human eye colour ought to be, almost black. Siria couldn’t read that face around those eyes at all.

“Okay so this is Sebastian but you can call him Seb. Everyone does,” Abigail’s voice interrupted, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil. “And Seb, this is Siria, the new farmer in town. I’m pretty sure you haven’t met each other yet since Seb is always holed up in his gloomy basement room,” she joked to her while poking the man in question to his side, which wasn’t met with much of a reaction at all, to Abigail’s obvious disappointment. Instead he kept staring at Siria, making her even more nervous.

“Uh, hi,” he finally replied with stiff and rejecting tones. Yet Siria was relieved to hear him answer and acknowledge her at least in some capacity. She assumed that this guy was probably just someone who was awkward with new people so she made a decision to try and be extra mindful about that.

“Oh, so you’re Robin’s son aren’t you?” She started, having quickly made the mental connection on her head and wanting to give him something to grab onto, to make the conversation start easier. “Your mother has mentioned you a few times. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she smiled. To her surprise, Sebastian just continued staring at her with a growing frown on his face.

“Sorry, I don’t really care. I gotta go,” was what finally came out of his mouth.

Siria felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water over her. _This is not happening_ , she wanted to say, she maybe mouthed, but never actually say out loud. It was all just too much. This whole day, it was actually just a bad dream. It must have been.

 _I have not just been treated like a piece of garbage by three different people for absolutely no reason at all. I’m going to wake up soon. Please let me wake up soon,_ she pleaded to Yoba to give her this wish.

But no such luck. Somehow she registered that Abigail was now right next to her, the sense turning more real when she took Siria’s hand in her own, quickly asking if she was alright but putting more weight in assuring the farmer that this wasn’t normal, that her friend wasn’t really like that. That what had just happened was unusual. Sam seemed to be going after Sebastian in slow motion, then suddenly jolting back.

_Why? What did he say? What is going on here?_

The man dressed in black— No, _Sebastian_ had left and Sam slowly turned back and returned to her and Abigail.

Siria had started to gain some sense back and managed to ask, “what— what was that?” The look on Sam’s face was that of an utter confusion.

“I have no idea, man. I just— I’m drawing completely blank here,” the usually carefree blond shook his head. He glanced at the direction where his friend has disappeared before continuing, “Um— I don’t really know what to say. He doesn’t normally behave that way. Like, he can be a gloomy creep, and yeah, maybe a bit rude to people he doesn’t know, but that was something— something— fuck, I don’t know. Sorry about that?”

“Yeah, what he said,” Abigail chimed in too, squeezing her hand tighter, too tight. “I’m sorry too, that was an awful thing to do. I’m going to knock some sense to that head when I next see him, I promise you!”

Seeing Sam so clearly conflicted and Abigail getting worked up brought a wave of guilt crashing over her. She heard her mother’s voice like she was there, right next to her.

_Darling, you really mustn’t worry me like that. You know mother loves you but I raised you strong enough to handle anything that life throws at you, so handle it. No one else will do it for you, so don’t bother them for pointless pity or sympathy. You do not cause worry to other people, you hear me? You do not cause them grief. Do you understand?_

Siria understood that she was about to cause trouble so she needed to fix this as soon as possible.

“Hey, it’s alright! I’m fine, it isn’t such a big deal,” she laughed, shrugging her shoulders, even though it took all she had in her to just not run away and cry.

The two looked at her in surprise, as she continued, trying to form a natural smile on her face. “See? I’m not bothered by that.” She was hurting by everything that had happened that day and forcing those words out almost made her feel like she would puke but it had to be done. She wasn’t going to be a burden on her new friends.

“No way!” Abigail was the first to react to her words. “Seb was a jerk and you don’t have to try to be nice about it just because he’s our friend!” Abigail continued with a tone that sounded firm and confident. Sam nodded forcefully to her words.

To Siria this was confusing. She wasn’t used to people disagreeing when she volunteered to let matters go. Rather, they were usually grateful to avoid the conflict.

“No, it’s really okay,” she decided to push, “We need to accept that sometimes people just don’t get along. Maybe he and I aren’t meant to be friends? Who knows. But it’s fine, honestly. I’ve got you two already, so it’s fine. Just please, let it go, okay?”

If there was a begging tone to her voice at the end she chose not to acknowledge it. Convincing Abigail and Sam was the most important thing here.

“Well, if you say so,” Abigail replied, though she suddenly seemed reserved, looking away and partly hiding her face behind purple dyed curls.

Sam seemed to follow suit too, after a while. “Alright, we’re not gonna press it now, since you clearly don’t want us to,” he sighed. “But I’m not happy with this, just so you know!”

“Thank you Sam, and Abigail too. I really don’t want to make a too big deal out of this. Maybe he’s just— having a bad day, or something,” she struggled to come up with reasonable explanations to pacify her friends.

“Actually, I _am_ worried,” Abigail spoke up. “Shouldn’t we go after him? To see if he’s okay?”

“I— I don’t think we should,” Sam spoke slowly, his gaze wandering towards the direction where his friend had gone. Siria didn’t know Sam that well yet but the look on his face would have been unusual for anyone. Yet she had no time to start deciphering it before Sam turned back to her and Abigail and smiled. Spreading his arms and placing one on Abigail’s shoulder and the other on Siria’s, putting some pressure for them both to face towards the town square, he continued with cheerier tone, “Whatever it was, I think it’s best to leave him alone for now. I’ll try to talk to him later.”

“Your call, you know him the best,” Abigail acknowledged, turning around easily with Sam’s guidance. Siria followed suit, though more hesitant, turning her head around to look back towards the beach road, the direction he had disappeared to, struggling to understand anything that was happening around her right now.

“Well, since we’re not gonna talk about this and we’re also not gonna go after him, what _are_ we gonna do,” Abigail interrupted Siria’s thoughts, the snark in her tone clear.

“It’s—” Siria was glad for the change of topics but had to clear her throat and try again, “It’s almost time for the egg hunt, isn’t it? I was maybe thinking that I could— unless I’m too old of course!” she felt a bit embarrassed about wanting to participate but this was about as good a time to bring it up as any.

“What? Not at all,” Abigail almost shouted, turning to Siria with lightning in her eyes. “Me and Sam are participating too so don’t you dare say we’re too old for it!” She then lodged her elbow to Siria’s ribs as if to punch her words in more thoroughly.

 _Ouch! She really likes to do that to everyone it seems_ , Siria thought, while nursing her side. But despite the slight pain she was happy. It had been so long since she had last had the opportunity to something fun like this.

———

There were six of them in the end. Vincent and Jas were of course taking part, but so was Maru, to Siria’s surprise. She hadn’t met with Robin’s other child that many times and didn’t know her age but she seemed so adult, working at the clinic and doing research with her father. Siria had just kind of assumed Maru was older than her and so seeing her there, basket in hand and ready to go egg hunting made Siria feels less self conscious about being 24 and wanting to participate at a kids event. Besides, Sam and Abigail were both here too. It was probably because this town was so small that they weren’t going to prevent anyone from taking part in things like these. _I think I will like it here!_ she could finally think, for the first time that day.

The feeling didn’t last long. As soon as the mayor announced that start, Siria noticed her way blocked in two directions. George Mullner was glaring at her from next to his house on east, and she saw Shane hanging around towards the beach side on south. They weren’t of course actually preventing her from going past them, but the mental block was there and she wasn’t up to it right now. With north and the cliffs closed off this pretty much only left her one option, west, back toward the road leading to her own farm.

With a sigh she turned around, hoping there were eggs to be found in that small corner of the town. But the mood had soured and she found herself unable to enjoy the hunt. There was too much to stress about.

In no time at all Siria had reached a flagged line, closing the town area from the bus station for the duration of the festival, so she turned to follow the cliff until she arrived to another flag line, this one closing the entrance to the stairs leading to the cliff. And still no eggs in sight.

_What am I doing? This is stupid. I’m stupid!_

Her frustration finally gave her the courage to go back to the town square, where she scouted a route between the Mullner house and Pierre’s store, a path that would get her to the river without going right past George or anyone else that she deemed dangerous right now.

There wasn’t much time left so she started to run, coming to the old mobile home where Penny lived with her mom. Looking around quickly she deemed it as a bit of an obvious place and likely empty so she quickly moved past the trailer and followed the river south to Lewis’ house. There were a lot more potential hiding places here, but to her dismay there was nothing left as she realized that others had gotten here first. Just then she heard the mayor’s voice announcing that the time was almost over.

Right at that moment she spotted an old convertible parked between the house and the river. The rear hatch was open. It was a car but still part of the egg hunt area, wasn’t it? Siria quickly sprinted nearer to take a look.

There it was! An egg painted in green and yellow.

“Yes!” she couldn’t help but shout out in joy. “Found one!”. Siria just managed to grab the egg and put it in her basket, when the mayor’s voice boomed.

“Time is out! If all contestants could please gather back here so we can start counting!”

Well, at least she had found one. Much less embarrassing than finding none. Her mood was again improving as she made her way back to the town square. Abigail caught up to her on the way.

“Heyy friend! How many did you find?” she asked and showed her own basket, full of eggs. Blushing, Siria showed Abigail her egg. “What? Only one? You’re something special alright,” she was almost bent in half, laughing loudly.

“Oh come on,” Siria protested, “I don’t know this town that well yet, I have no idea where all the good spots are!”

“You sure that’s it? You didn’t by any chance get distracted by something? Like Alex’s fine pair of gluteus maximus’?” Abigail was now giggling, trying to wink at Siria. “Did you notice how tight his jeans were today?”

Siria sighed. Abigail was fun to hang around with but she was starting to get to know her irritating side as well, as her mind could just randomly go into the gutter, without any provocation. What did Alex even have to do with the whole egg hunt?

“Yeah whatever, let’s just get this done with so I can go and clean that mental image from my head with something suitably strong,” she groaned.

“Strong? Like Alex’s—”

“Not hearing you, can’t hear anything you’re saying, la la laa,” Siria put her fingers in her ears and started to run.

———

Siria had found a quiet spot away from the people and was sitting under a massive tree that grew between the north cliffs and village houses, still close to village center and not too far to miss anything, but unseen enough to feel comfortable. The announcing of the results had went about the same as everything else today, meaning it was a total disaster. Mayor Lewis had found her single egg hilarious. In fact it seemed to be the joke of the year for him already and it was only Spring. She had said something congenial about her loss in reply and earned a hug and thanks from little Vincent, who was usually always last, but had been second to last this year.

 _Well, Vincent was actually nice_ , she smiled at the memory. But was one good thing enough to keep the whole thing from turning into an overarching festival of irritation?

The fact was that Lewis just wouldn’t stop joking about her loss. Siria had thought that for sure the villagers would tire hearing about it over and over again and say something, but no. They all kept acting like it was the first time they had heard about it, laughing that honest laugh that ringed like a bell, making any objections from her even more difficult.

 _Hilarious_ , she thought, gripping her basket tighter, pressing her hot face against the coolness of her knees. _Maybe they should consider importing some fresh humour from Zuzu city, since it seems to be a resource that gets recycled to death in here_!

She felt like she really should have gone back to her farm, to be alone with her ugly thoughts. The idea of having to pass through the village center was too off putting though, no matter that people had already started to leave when Siria had made her own escape. She didn’t know this place and the people in it. She couldn’t trust them to be away or not to notice her.

_Don’t be ridiculous. No one ever notices. Just get up and go home!_

But she didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is something I've already partially written about 2 years ago already, and a prequel to the Day at the Fair. It kinda got left behind for other stuff, but also, I was just intimidated by my planned chapter count. But I'm not anymore so I might as well tell this story of one random farmer and the village emo kid. I hope you enjoy it~


	2. Not one to hunt eggs

Egg festival wasn’t Sebastian’s favourite event. It wasn’t the worst either as Flower Dance and Luau held that place as equals of suck, but still. It was hard to dress for the unpredictable spring weather. Like today. Sun was shining from a totally cloudless sky and it warmed the air to the extent that normal people might have felt like it was time to dig out those lighter warm weather clothes. Except in the places where the sun didn’t reach. Then it was cold, the merciless wind piercing through any spring appropriate clothes Sebastian might have owned. So here he was, his black hoodie on top of a long sleeved shirt, sweating like a pig, uncomfortable, but definitely not enough to take the offending piece of clothing off.

Weird bursts of light and shapes danced in and out of Sebastian’s view, caused by a lack of sleep. He had been up all night trying to finish a project for a client. The deadline was fast approaching and he had been trying to fix a problem that made the whole thing crash when trying to send information from a customer survey form to the server. He hadn’t managed to find it before his family had practically forced him out of the door, saying he needed fresh air, sunlight, and to see his friends, no ifs or buts, objections overruled.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to concentrate on Sam and Abby, and what they were talking about. They seemed to be comparing their earlier egg hunt scores. Abby had been the reigning victor for two years in a row and Sam was swearing vengeance this year. But Sebastian’s mind just kept going back to the problem he needed to solve, about a chain of commands that should have functioned perfectly, yet for some reason didn’t. If he could at least write down some of the ideas that he wanted to try before they slipped away.

_Damn, I’m so tired, I wish I could just—_

“Siria! You made it! Come here,” he suddenly jolted to attention when Abby raised her voice to call out to— _who?_

A new person. Sebastian vaguely remembered his mother mentioning something about that. But that had been weeks ago already. He had just kinda assumed that nothing came out of it since he didn’t remember any more mentions about the matter. But there she was, the new farmer. Sebastian focused his attention to the newcomer and what he saw was— _green_.

 _What? Green? No, I mean, she has eyes_ , he thought, his mind completely at disarray. _Shit, the hell am I thinking? Of course she has eyes. She has eyes. That are green. Green eyes._

Green eyes that were looking at him from a heart-shaped face framed by a cloud of dark wine coloured curls. Green eyes that were so startling against a warm brown complexion. Green eyes that were surrounded by long, black lashes. Green eyes that looked at him with a seemingly confused interest now.

He was starting to get angry with himself for reacting in such an odd way when he noticed that Abby had spoken up.

“And Seb, this is Siria, the new farmer in town. I’m pretty sure you haven’t met each other yet since Seb is always holed up in his gloomy basement room,” she said with an annoyingly playful tone, jabbing his side with her elbow. Standard Abby, something that he usually ignored or returned in kind, but that irritated him now. He should probably say something.

“Uh, hi,” Sebastian managed to grunt.

This wasn’t good. Not good at all. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

The situation was too weird and unexpected for him to handle right at that moment and the all too familiar icy prickling was starting to make its way up from his fingers, leaving him no room to think. The farmer was saying something, he saw her lips move. Was she talking to him? He hadn’t heard a word, he was too focused on the wasp’s nest growing angrier inside his chest.

“Sorry, I don’t really care. I gotta go,” he blurted out in panic and turned around to leave. But Sam was surprisingly quick. Taking a few steps Sam had managed to grab his arm, stopping Sebastian on his tracks.

“Dude, what the hell?” Sam hissed. “You’re behaving like an asshole and—”

“Let go. Now,” Sebastian almost growled at his friend with low voice. Sam pulled his hand back in shock, like he had suddenly noticed he was holding onto some venomous creature instead of a childhood friend. Sebastian took the opportunity to spin around and run, to put as much distance between them as possible before Sam recovered and tried to prevent him from leaving again.

_I need space to think!_

_I need quiet._

_I need to calm down._

_I need to be... not here!_

Those thoughts were pounding in his head, with a steadily increasing urgency, making it hard to breath and run. Luckily Sam didn’t seem intent on following, so Sebastian could soon slow down to a brisk walking pace. He already knew just where to go.

The beach had been closed off with a line of colourful flags to indicate that it was off-limits for the egg hunt that would take place later. He slipped under the line and continued forward, across a stone bridge to a path leading to the Gem Sea. Everyone in town was participating in the egg festival so the beach would be completely empty. It was one of his favourite places. Not in a sunny day like this though, but there were no other places so near where he could go calm himself down and gather his thoughts.

Smell of the sea soon filled the air and then he could see the beach. _No one here. Good_ , he thought as he stepped from the path to the sand. Sebastian usually liked to go to the tip of the longest pier but not today, not with the sun out. He instinctively went for a more hidden location and the only cover to be found on the piers was Willy’s fish shop. The familiar sound and feeling of his boots on the wooden boards felt reassuring as he made his way along the shorter pier. He was glad to see that the side of the shop was empty and solidly in shade so he could at least get away from the sun.

Reaching his intended destination he slowed down and the anxiety became louder again. It always did when he had nothing to distract him. Doctor Harvey had told him that distracting himself with other things and avoiding those feelings that made him anxious wasn’t going to fix anything, but what did he know? He might have been a doctor but he wasn’t the one who had to try to face this— this monster inside him. To Sebastian avoidance and distractions were just the ticket.

 _Maybe I should just get a parasol_ , he thought as he flopped down on the pier, back against the weathered boards of the fish shop. _I think I’m starting to be so beyond caring what other people think that I just might._

His fingers were drumming a feverish beat on the boards he sat on. As he allowed his mind to wander on the topic of potential parasol styles and colours, his drumming slowly turned into tapping, then stroking the rough wood underneath. Then the changed to the smoother table leg next to him, tracing patterns with his finger. He continued this way, finding different sensations to focus on, thinking about things that didn’t matter, letting the anxiety slowly melt away and his mind unwind.

With that came a craving so he dug out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, enjoying the warm smoke in deep inhales that burned the cigarette down fast. The harsh glare of the sun was reflected at the waves of the sea, hurting Sebastian’s eyes so he closed them for a while.

“What you doing here boy? Shop’s not open today,” Sebastian heard a gruff voice and opened his eyes. Had he dozed off? He looked up to see a rough, bearded face of the local fisherman.

“I think I fell asleep. Didn’t mean to,” he replied to Willy, while looking around in confusion. He noticed that the shadows had moved quite a bit since he closed his eyes. It must have been at least an hour then. “Sorry,” he added as an afterthought, in case the fisherman was angry at him.

“Hm, you’re the carpenter’s boy aren’t you? Sebastian?” Willy asked but didn’t wait for a reply, “I always see you on that pier there. You like the sea?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess?” Sebastian was growing confused at this apparent interrogation. He saw Willy’s brows start to furrow on his vague answer. “It’s a good place to think,” he clarified quickly and was relieved to see the old man’s face mellow.

“Ah, good. It is indeed. Clears the mind like nothing else. I like people who like the sea,” Willy nodded his approval. “So, what needs clearing in your head today, Sebastian?”

 _How to reply to that?_ Sebastian was quiet for a while.

“I don’t do well with people,” he finally blurted, surprised by his own honesty. But what the hell, let it out. It wasn’t like he would be talking to this old geezer like this again. “It’s draining. Somehow being around a lot of people always leaves me really tired, so— I don’t really like these festivals that much. I know it’s stupid but—” He sighed and waited for the fisherman to laugh at him.

“Why you think I live out here alone?” Willy’s answer startled Sebastian. “Well, not that alone anymore, since that writer moved to the beach last year. But he’s good company, that Elliott. Likes his solitude too. I’m happy to just go to the saloon on weekends and be on my own for the rest of the week.”

“Don’t they think you’re weird for it?” Sebastian surprised himself again. _Why would I ask something like that?_

“Nah. I suppose I’m old enough that they just take me for _ax_ -centric, or what’s the fancy word,” he chuckled. Sebastian couldn’t help but smile too. Then the smile faded as he remembered the rest of the reason he had came here for. Well, since he had already started on the path of honesty— And for some reason Willy felt easy to talk to, more easy than doctor Harvey, or either of his two friends.

“I think I did a bad thing today. I said something to the new farmer that I wish I hadn’t.”

“Well, you should apologize then,” was only thing Willy seemed to be going to say about his confession. Sebastian wished it was that simple.

“But— what if she doesn’t accept it? I just met her for the first time today, I don’t know what she’s like. What if I pissed her off so much that she told other people? What if she told my mom?” Sebastian’s fears were starting to rise.

“Boy, you never know before you go out there and do it. Besides, she doesn’t seem like a bad person. A bit weird, but not bad.”

“Weird? In what way?”

“Well, the egg hunt today?” he asked, but then seemed to understand that Sebastian wasn’t there. “She lost but still made a new record. Just one egg. How’s that happen? Those eggs are everywhere, even the clumsiest tot can get at least three. But somehow she only found one.

“Oh. Well that must have been— awkward?” Sebastian couldn’t really understand the point of even participating in the hunt but losing at something so publicly must have been embarrassing.

“Oh but the farmer took it real well. Said she was glad to be the last so none of the wee ones had to be. See? Weird, but must be a really nice person too. And she’s interested in fishing so she’s a good one in my books,” Willy said and reached down to give Sebastian a short though somewhat awkward pat on the shoulder. “Just go and apologize. I’m sure it’s gonna be ok.”

“You really want me off your pier that bad, huh?” Sebastian snarked at the fisherman, but then sighed heavily for the words ringed true. “I suppose you’re right. At least it can’t make things any worse, can it?”

“That’s the spirit! Now go on, get! Off my pier!” Willy barked and laughed.

“Thanks,” he replied with a slight smile as he got up to leave.

“And you know where to find the shop if you ever feel like fishing!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sebastian waved his hand as he started the walk back towards the town, now in a much better mood.

———

When he finally made his way back, the flag lines had already been cleared away and there weren’t any people around anymore.

 _Oh yeah, the egg hunt ends the whole thing_ , he remembered, realizing that the farmer must have left already. Even though Willy’s encouragement had given him some extra confidence, he found himself to feel relieved that it didn’t have to be today. As he had pondered the matter on his way here he had also understood that there probably wasn’t any way to effectively apologize to her other than to explain what had caused his behaviour. And Sebastian wasn’t actually sure if he was up to that. Even Sam and Abby didn’t know any more than that sometimes he was weird so the thought of having to tell about it to a complete stranger felt terrifying.

He had made an almost unconscious decision to just head home, so he found himself walking down the dirt path between the Saloon and the large dog kennel. As he approached the town square he became a bit more mindful of his surroundings. Abby could have still been lingering around her family’s store and he didn’t want to see either of his two friends right now. Pierre’s storefront seemed empty though so he quickly tried to make his way past the Mullner house and onwards to the cliff stairs, where he wouldn’t be seen anymore. But the surprise came from the other direction.

“Shit!” Sebastian hissed, startled as he saw the farmer. She was sitting under an ancient, huge tree located between the Mullner house and the cliffs. He quickly ducked behind a fence.

_Not doing this today, definitely not doing this today. Can’t. Won’t. Nope. Njet. Non. Not a chance!_

Sebastian had no idea how he could have been so convinced he could just a little while ago. Now here he was, his heart rate going through the roof, terrified at the prospect of having to look her in the eyes.

Luckily the farmer didn’t seem to have noticed him and the wooden fence provided adequate cover so matters should continue to be exactly so.

 _What is she even doing there_ , Sebastian thought to wonder after calming down a bit. He hadn’t managed to see much as everything happened so quickly, but she looked a bit— low? There was a gap in the fence just a little bit away from Sebastian so he leaned in to take a look.

 _She doesn’t really look like a proper farmer_ , he decided after taking her appearance in properly and with time. She was wearing a loose black shirt with what seemed like an off-shoulder neckline, though it was hard to see, and deep purple harem pants. All that airiness was combined with heavy black boots similar to his own, where he would have expected something light, like sandals. Unlike his, hers were neatly tied all the way up so she probably wasn’t stepping on the laces and undoing them all the time like he was.

 _That’s probably not what she wears to work. It would be more like— plaid? And denim overalls. I wonder what that would look like—_ he caught himself getting distracted to directions he really didn’t want to go to and quickly shook his head to clear it.

The farmer was sitting cross legged.  Her head was hanging and curls covered most of her face so that Sebastian couldn’t see what kind of expression she had but her hands seemed to be gripping the egg basket with some considerable force.

 _Huh. That upset about some stupid egg hunt?_ Sebastian thought, remembering what Willy had told him. _One egg— that does kinda suck. But still, it’s not that big of a deal. What’s up with her?_

He leaned back to think. Even after gaining his composure since the initial shock he was pretty sure he wasn’t up for any more anxiety inducing excitement today. _Not gonna die of a heart failure on a tender age of just 22!_ It also looked like it wasn’t a good time to disturb the farmer anyway so he took a quick peek to make sure she hadn’t moved, got on his feet and started to make his way back towards the direction he came from, careful not to make any sound that could alert her to his presence.

 _It’s the long way around to home then,_ he thought glumly, shielding his eyes from the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so yeah, this thing is POV alternating. Gotta remember to add that to the tags now. This is the same event from Sebastian's POV :3
> 
> Then a bit of a setback. One of the reasons I started to write this fic at all was that I got a new computer. My old one had a busted keyboard that had been making writing a bit of an impossibility/torture for a while so yay for a new one! But... My new one developed screen issues today and I need to send it for repairs. It's covered by guarantee EASILY bc it's only been mine for two weeks, but... My backup machine is the one with a busted keyboard. Only way I could write would be to go to the library or steal my partner's computer (which, ahem, they WOULD mind, a lot.) What all that in turn means is that while I have chapters 3 and 4 almost done, I might not be able to finish them for a while. I WILL try (library has aircon and we're suffering from a heatwave so fuck yes to that!) but I can't give promises. Which is a really sucky thing to have to announce at chapter 2 notes but it really can't be helped. I'm sorry about that.


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